Cattle and calf losses from animal predators
and non-predator causes in the United States
totaled 4.05 million head in 2005, USDA's
National Agriculture Statistics Service
reported.
Cattle and calf losses from animal
predators totaled 190,000 head. This
represented 4.7 percent of the total losses
from all causes and resulted in a loss of
$92.7 million to cattle farmers and ranchers.
Coyotes and dogs caused the majority of cattle
and calf losses accounting for 51.1 percent
and 11.5 percent, respectively.
Cattle and calf losses from non-predator
causes totaled 3.86 million head or 95.3
percent of the total losses. Respiratory
problems were the leading cause of
non-predator deaths accounting for 28.7
percent, followed by digestive problems at
16.8 percent.
Farmers and ranchers throughout the United
States spent $199.1 million on non-lethal
methods to control predators. Use of guard
animals was the most common method at 38.0
percent. Exclusion fencing, frequent checking,
and culling were the next most commonly used
methods of preventing cattle and calf losses
at 34.0 percent, 21.8 percent, and 19.6
percent, respectively.
